Fostering Research Integrity in Social Sciences: Basic Understanding and Policy Recommendations

Abstract

There are numerous definitions of "Research Integrity", but we chose a definition that indicates the role of institutional environment and policies in ensuring fairness and honesty in research activities. This article is an overview of the historical context and current needs to build workable policies on research integrity. Core values, common actions of compliance and violations in practicing research integrity will also be presented. Besides synthesizing basic knowledge of these matters, we propose to use responsive regulatory theory to develop sanctions policies. The application of this theoretical framework is shown in a specific example, the University of Leicester's regulations on plagiarism. Principles of the responsive regulatory theory are expected to be applicable for other research misconducts. Keywords Research integrity, research misconduct, sanctions policy, responsive regulatory theory